


like no one does

by complicationstoo



Series: STB Bingo Round One [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kid Peter Parker, Love Confessions, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28753503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/complicationstoo/pseuds/complicationstoo
Summary: “So things were good?” Tony asks hesitantly. It was the first time Steve has been alone with Peter for more than five minutes since the start of their relationship eight months ago, and he wasn’t really sure if they were ready for that yet. The gala forced his hand though, as his usual babysitter couldn’t make it and everyone else had to be in attendance at the same event. He was intending just to skip it when Steve offered to look after him for the night.“Things were good,” Steve confirms. “We had grilled cheese, colored together, played with legos, then we watched Finding Nemo, and he handed me a tissue when I cried.”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: STB Bingo Round One [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037892
Comments: 25
Kudos: 289
Collections: STB Bingo: Round One





	like no one does

**Author's Note:**

> written for my Steve | Tony | Bucky Bingo square:  
> G1: Tuxedo
> 
> title is "like no one does" by Jake Scott

Tony slumps back against the wall of the elevator, leaning his head against the cool metal and hooking his fingers under his collar to loosen the bowtie. There’s a dull throbbing at the base of his skull that’s been slowly spreading upwards all night with every painful conversation. He hates nights like this, where he has to dress in his absolute best just to talk to a room full of people he either doesn’t know at all or knows too well and doesn’t like. 

Playing the game never gets any easier, he’s come to realize. Sure, he knows all of his lines now and knows how to play the part, but he still feels just as numb and empty at the end of each night as he did right at the beginning. The only difference now is that there’s someone waiting for him on the other side, and tonight he’s lucky enough to get two someones. 

The elevator doors open, and Tony huffs as he’s forced to stand up straight again. The entry to the penthouse is dark when he walks in, setting down his wallet and keys on the side table. Light is flickering from the television in the living room, and Tony follows it like a beacon to find a blonde head poking out from the couch. 

Tony flops down over the back of the couch, letting his head fall onto Steve’s shoulder without so much as a hello first. Steve must not have heard him come in, because he jumps at the sudden contact before relaxing when he sees it’s just Tony. Steve’s fingers thread through his hair, and Tony lets out a heavy sigh as his nails lightly scrape against his scalp. 

“Hi, sweetheart,” Steve murmurs. He stretches one arm out for the remote without dislodging Tony’s head from his shoulder and turns down the volume of the TV so it’s just a hum in the background.

“Hi,” Tony mumbles. “Peter in bed?”

Steve nods, “For a couple hours now. He wasn’t a fan of how I did the voices in his book, because apparently Grover doesn’t sound like that. I thought it was pretty spot on myself, but hey, Peter knows best.”

Tony snorts, knowing exactly what Peter’s face would have looked like when Steve didn’t do the voice the way he likes it. The little frown on his lips and big brown eyes that always make him feel like he’s committed some kind of horrible offense by not getting his accents exactly right. 

“If it helps, Rhodey is the only one who actually does it right. He banned me from reading that one to him a long time ago.”

“Oh, good,” Steve laughs. “I thought I was the only one on the banned list.”

“Nah, it’s you, me, Pepper, and Happy. The kid’s got specific tastes.”

“Wow, I wonder where he gets it from.”

Tony pouts, “Don’t be mean to me. I had a long night.”

Steve twists himself so he can press a kiss to Tony’s temple. “Why don’t you come sit next to me for a little while? I can tell you all about how you can make a grilled cheese wrong.”

Tony debates just throwing himself over the couch and seeing where he lands, but the consequences probably aren’t worth saving himself twenty seconds. He straightens to walk to the other side, then sets himself between Steve’s legs with his back to Steve’s chest. Steve shifted when Tony stood to rest against the corner of the couch, and their legs stretch out together. He’s badly wrinkling his tuxedo, but he can’t bring himself to care. 

Tony twines his fingers with Steve’s on his stomach and tilts his head back to rest against Steve’s shoulder, sighing contently. “Alright, enlighten me on how you make a grilled cheese wrong.”

“First, you start by being anyone but you, apparently,” Steve says lightly. “Then you proceed with the rest of the steps exactly as you left in the instructions, and by the end, Peter looks at you like you’ve just insulted his very being.”

Tony laughs, covering his eyes with his hand, “Oh, God. I’m sorry. He didn’t do this to you all night, did he?”

“No, he was actually great,” Steve says, and Tony can hear the smile in his voice. “He said I’m better at coloring than you are, so watch out, because I’ll be his favorite soon.”

“You’ll be taking it from Rhodey, not me,” Tony jokes. 

Steve holds him a little tighter, hand finding its way back to his hair. He massages the base of Tony’s skull with gentle pressure, alleviating some of the tension from the headache that Tony isn’t sure how Steve knows he has. “I don't know about that. He spent the whole night telling me all his favorite things to do with you. It was really sweet.”

“So things were good?” Tony asks hesitantly. It was the first time Steve has been alone with Peter for more than five minutes since the start of their relationship eight months ago, and he wasn’t really sure if they were ready for that yet. The gala forced his hand though, as his usual babysitter couldn’t make it and everyone else had to be in attendance at the same event. He was intending just to skip it when Steve offered to look after him for the night.

“Things were good,” Steve confirms. “We had grilled cheese, colored together, played with legos, then we watched Finding Nemo, and he handed me a tissue when I cried.”

Tony grins, “You cried?”

“He told me you cried during Up the other day, so don’t even start.”

“Everyone cries during Up, Steven,” Tony defends. “Well, except for Peter, because I don’t think he really understood what was happening at the beginning.”

Steve hums, “I can watch him anytime you need me to, you know. I like spending time with him, and,” Steve pauses like he’s deciding on the words, “I like that you trust me with him.”

“Of course I trust you. I wouldn’t still be with you if I didn’t,” Tony says. He tilts his head, pressing a kiss to the underside of Steve’s jaw. “Peter, he’s my most important thing, and you’ve never made me feel bad about that. You understand it when I have to cancel sometimes or when I’m late because Peter was having a bad day. And he doesn’t really like a lot of people, but he asks about you every day he doesn’t see you. 

“I don’t really know where I’m going with this, because I’m tired and I don’t think I’m making any sense, but I guess if there was a point it would be that he likes you, and I know you care about him, and I really like that. It’s - it’s good.”

“I do care about him,” Steve says, leaning forward so he can kiss Tony’s lips softly. “And I care about you, which is why I’m going to take care of you and get you to bed.”

Steve slips out from behind him and gets one hand under Tony’s knees while the other arm wraps around his back. Smiling, Tony holds onto Steve’s shoulders and lets him carry him down the hall. 

“How’s your headache?” Steve asks.

“It’s gone thanks to you,” Tony says as Steve pushes the bedroom door open with his elbow. “I don’t know how you knew I even had one.”

“Your eye was doing that twitchy thing.”

“That twitchy thing?”

Steve nods, setting Tony down on the edge of the bed. “Your left eye does a thing when you have a headache and the lights are too much.”

Steve kneels in front him and unties his shoelaces, while Tony tries to swallow around the lump in his throat. “You know that, huh?”

Putting the first shoe to the side, Steve puts the sock with it and starts on the other. “And I also know that you’re probably hungry still, because you never really eat at those things, but you can’t eat right now or else you’ll get a stomach ache because it’s too late at night.”

The second shoe and sock join the first, and Steve rises to his feet to work on undoing Tony’s bowtie with nimble fingers. “You should have some water before bed, though, or you’re going to wake up with a new headache. I’m sure you only had one glass of champagne, but you’re a lightweight nowadays, darling.”

Steve sets the tie on the bed and reaches down to undo the buttons on his jacket, then the ones on his vest. The cufflinks come off next, and while Steve sets them back in their box on the dresser, Tony shrugs out of the jacket and vest. Steve straightens them out of the crumple Tony left them in when he comes back. His hands move to the buttons on his shirt, and Tony catches his wrist before he undoes anything. 

“You don’t have to,” Tony says, even though he wants him to. “I can do it myself.”

Steve smiles, dipping his head down to kiss Tony’s forehead. “I know you can, but I’m taking care of you.”

There are unspoken words behind the statement, and Tony thinks about them while Steve takes his time working open the buttons on his shirt. They haven’t said them yet because Tony wanted to wait. He said from the start that he needed slow, warned Steve that he would need more time than most, and Steve surprised him by not only saying he was okay with it, but actually being okay with it. 

But eight months in, Tony doesn’t know why he’s waiting still. He’s felt it for a while now, and he knows that Steve feels it as well. It’s plain on his face every time he looks at him, in his eyes as clear as if it was written there. 

Steve reaches the bottom of his shirt, and gentle hands push the fabric from his shoulders to leave him in the undershirt and black trousers. He turns after that, heading for Tony’s closet and opening a drawer. 

He comes back with Tony’s favorite pair of gray sweats in his hand and asks, “Are sweatpants alright, babe?”

Tony doesn’t know why, but he laughs. Steve gives him a confused but amused look in return, not following along with wherever Tony’s head is at, but knowing well enough that he isn’t laughing at him. 

“So they’re either okay or it’s a hilariously bad suggestion,” Steve says.

Tony stands up, walking over to where Steve is standing, backlit by the light from the closet. He stands on the tips of his toes and wraps his arms around Steve’s neck. Steve returns the embrace automatically, strong arms enveloping him in comfort and warmth. 

He says it before he can talk himself out of it or find a reason why not to. “I love you.”

Steve gives him a soft smile and lifts one hand to cup Tony’s cheek. “Well that’s really nice to finally hear.”

“I wouldn’t know. You haven’t said it back.”

Steve laughs, and he leans down to kiss Tony soundly. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead against Tony’s and whispers, “I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [@ifmywishescametrue](https://ifmywishescametrue.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
